Chicken or beef? MasterChef judge Matt Preston reveals his 14 biggest food secrets

HE’S the king of cravats and MasterChef’s chief pot-stirrer, but there’s little we know about Matt Preston’s personal culinary preferences. Here are 14 of his biggest food secrets.

HE’S the king of cravats and MasterChef’s chief pot-stirrer, but what do we actually know about Matt Preston’s personal culinary preferences?

We sat the larger-than-life food critic down to grill him on all things cooking, international cuisine and the big Aussie pub meal debate — but does he go the parma or the steak when sipping a cold one?

Here are 14 food secrets Matt Preston revealed to news.com.au.

1) The best fast food in Australia? A burger with the lot.

2) The best leftovers? Last night’s take away curry. “There’s something about stewy food that tastes so good. The flavours develop and when you reheat them the next day they are delicious.”

3) The best sporting stadium food? A hot meat pie with sauce. “There’s nothing better than the taste of victory and a true footy pie.”

There’s only one food that Matt Preston won’t touch.

4) The best food for the road trip? A burger. “A great burger with the lot, nothing better.”

5) The best meal in a can? Baked beans. “There’s something magnificent about baked beans ... whether they’re hot and microwaved, or slow cooked with a bit of butter or straight out of the can cold, they always deliver.”

6) Your favourite cuisine of all time? You can’t pick. “It would be like asking someone ‘what is your favourite type of sunshine?’ They’re all good. Apart from maybe German. The food tends to be a wee bit grey ... sorry Germany.”

7) The best hangover food? An egg and bacon sandwich. “Salt and fat seem to be the solution, along with a sweet cup of tea.”

8) The best airline food? The sandwich. “But if it’s between the chicken and the beef, always, always, always have the chicken, it performs far better in the cooking conditions that they’ve got.”

Matt Preston says that bacon has “magical properties when it comes to curing a hangover”.

9) The one item in the pantry you never run out of? Flake salt. “The Spanish call salt the caviar of the poor. It sharpens flavours, it brings sweet things alive.”

10) The one food you will never eat? Whale. “I tried it once, I would never eat whale again, and I would encourage you not to eat whale either. It’s no great culinary moment.”

11) What’s better, savoury or sweet? Somewhere in between. “But if I had to choose between an entree and a dessert, I’d always have the entree, it’s more creative and I just love vegetables.”

12) What’s your go-to dish when having a quiet night in at home? Meat on the BBQ with a spice rub and homemade flatbread. “Or pasta, something brilliant and quick. It’s a bit like the little black dress, no matter what you’ve got to accessorise it with, it’s always going to look stylish.”

13) When at the pub do you order the parma or the steak? The parma. “There’s something truly Australian about it. Anything crumbed is always good, let’s be honest.”

14) Why do Victorians love the parma so much? “There is this whole culture in Victoria of the pot and the parma, the Tuesday night special for $10 ... It’s just the Victorian thing to do. It’s like going to have a pie floater on a night out in Adelaide, it’s like being up in Brissy and finding yourself down in The Valley. It’s just our nature.”

MasterChef judges Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris, Matt Preston and Kylie Kwong.